Wang Yixian
Master candidate of the Department of International Relations,
Tsinghua University
The opening ceremony of the Greek Book Exhibition of the Laskaridis Foundation and the "China-Greece Cultural Exchange and Cooperation" Seminar were successfully held at the Datong Hall of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library of Tsinghua University on September 25, 2016. It was organized by the Research Center for China-EU Relations of Tsinghua University, the Research Center for Greek Roman Philosophy and Religion of Tsinghua University, the AikateriniLaskaridis Foundation in Greece, and co-organized by the Center for the New Silk Road Strategic and Economic Studies in Greece.
Prof. Wang Xiaochao, from the Research Center for Greek Roman Philosophy and Religion of Tsinghua University, chaired the opening ceremony. Mr. Leonidas Rokanas, the Greek Ambassador to China, Mr. Laskaridis, President of the Greek AikateriniLaskaridis Foundation and Prof. Deng Jingkang, Director of the Library of Tsinghua University, all delivered opening remarks. They spoke highly of the Sino-Greek cultural exchange and cooperation program between Tsinghua University and the Greek AikateriniLaskaridis Foundation. They expected that the Sino-Greek relations will be promoted by strengthening exchanges and cooperation on both sides. Delegates from China and Greek jointly held the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Mr. Leonidas Rokanas, the Greek Ambassador to China delivered opening remarks
Mr. Laskaridis, President of the Greek AikateriniLaskaridis Foundation delivered opening remarks
Prof. Deng Jingkang, Director of the Library of Tsinghua University delivered opening remarks
Prof. Zhang Lihua, Director of the Research Center for China-EU Relations of Tsinghua University, chaired the morning part, and Prof. Shi Zhiqin, the Vice President of the Research Center for China-EU Relations of Tsinghua University, chaired the afternoon part.
In the morning meeting, Prof. GeorgiosBabiniotis, former Minister of Education of Greece and Dean of University of Athens, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Greek Language: Driver of Western Thought". His speech mainly focused on the Greek language's decisive position in the development process of western civilization. From ancient times, Greeks used their language to record their understanding and exploring of the universe. With a history of more than 3,500 years, the Greek language is the carrier of its culture. Its contribution to European languages, culture and thoughts was just like the Chinese language to those of Japan and Koreas. There is no doubt that the Greek language is the root of the western civilization. A plenty of basic words of English and other European language come from Greek language.
After the keynote speech, a panel discussion on the research of Greek Philosophy in China was given by three Chinese scholars. Prof. Wang Xiaochao, the Director of Researcher of the Center for Ancient Greek, introduced his current research on the construction of the database of ancient Greek philosophical terms. In the report “The Study of Plato’s Text”, Dr. Zhan Wenjie, from the Department of Philosophy in Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, summarized the development of the Chinese translation of Plato's works in the Chinese academia. Prof. Liu Wei, from the School of Philosophy of Renmin University of China, talked about his understanding of the unity of virtue of Aristotle's ethics.
In the afternoon meeting, Mr. Admiral Mazarakis, Senior Advisor and Operating Executive Officer of the AikateriniLaskaridis Foundation delivered a keynote speech entitled "Thucydides Strategic Thought and Modern Diplomacy". He pointed out that, in his book History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, for the first time in history, proposed a comprehensive theory of how the state defends its own security— high strategy. Unlike traditional strategies focusing on the military issue, this theory involves all the factors which may affect the security of a country, such as economy, diplomacy, military, science and technology, population, social psychology and so on. The security dilemma discussed in the High Strategy was later called the “Thucydides trap”. But it is not very appropriate to predict that there must be a war between China and the United States by using the "Thucydides trap" theory. Mr. Admiral Mazarakis firmly believed that China has the ability to use its political wisdom to avoid falling into the "Thucydides trap".
Three Chinese scholars gave speeches about the exchange and cooperation between China and Greece. Prof. Jiang Yinhu, from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced some achievements by application of new technologies in the field of Chinese archeology. He said he looks forward to cooperating with the Greek archaeological community in the Greek archaeological excavations and research. Dr. Tan Dawei, from the Department of Philosophy of Tsinghua University, reviewed the material and cultural circulation of ancient China and Greece on the ancient Silk Road, especially the history about how Christianity was introduced into China. He also put forward a question that was worth studying— whether Greek thoughts had been introduced into China along the Silk Road in the Tang dynasty. Prof. Elena Avramidou, from the Center for Hellenic Studies of Peking University, gave the speech "Cultural Cooperation and Exchanges between Greece and China: Achievements and Challenges". She pointed out that Greece and China have great potentials for cooperation, and some cooperation and exchanges have made plenty of achievements. But the cooperation between China and Greece also faces many difficulties, which are mostly due to the cultural differences between China and Greece and less understanding about these differences. Thus, it is imperative to vigorously promote cultural exchanges between China and Greece and promote mutual understanding. The key point for successful cooperation between China and Greece in education and culture is to establish a sustainable mechanism for dialogue and cooperation at both national and non-national levels. We need to look for the common ground of these two ancient civilizations and turn cultural exchange and cooperation into a bridge to strengthen the relationship between China and Greece.
At the end of the meeting, Mr. PanosLaskaridis, President of the Greek Laskaridis Foundation, made a closing statement. He expressed his gratitude to the experts for their work in promoting Sino-Greek exchanges. He showed his confidence in the prospects of cooperation between the Research Center for China-EU Relations of Tsinghua University and the Laskaridis Foundation. He also expressed hopes that the two sides could make sustained cooperation on cultural and business exchanges.
2016.9.28
